Tiger Global invests €40M in restaurant tech leader Flipdish

 Direct Online Ordering in Hyper-Growth as Restaurants Seize Control Back from Food Delivery Platforms

Investment firm Tiger Global Management has invested €40M in Flipdish, Europe’s leading online ordering and loyalty platform for takeaways and restaurants.

Founded by brothers Conor and James McCarthy in 2015, Flipdish puts restaurants, cafes and takeaways of all sizes in control of their business growth with a digital ordering and marketing system that builds brands, grows profits and turns customers into regulars. The company’s revenues have increased 10x since its funding round in 2018.

A major driver behind Flipdish’s hyper growth is restaurant owners bringing their online ordering capability in house, rather than relying on a food delivery marketplace, enabling them to reduce their commission fees and build a closer relationship with their customers.

Conor McCarthy, Co-Founder and CEO of Flipdish comments: “The pandemic has brought home to restaurants how critical it is to build a direct digital relationship with their customers. Many are fed up of competing with the food delivery marketplaces for that customer relationship, drivers and real-estate and worry that they are planning to siphon away their customers by building a network of competing brands and virtual restaurants in their local area.”

The investment will enable Flipdish to grow its international footprint, continue to build a world class product for its restaurant partners and attract new customers from independents to large food chains.

McCarthy continues: “We are delighted that with its deep domain expertise and intimate knowledge of the competitive landscape, Tiger Global has selected Flipdish as the best investment opportunity in this space in Europe. Flipdish’s mission is to protect and power a diverse, independent food sector, and every cent of this investment will go towards realizing that goal.”

Tiger Global Management is an investment firm focused on global internet, software, consumer-tech and fin-tech companies. Its previous early-stage investments include Facebook, LinkedIn, Uber, Airbnb, Peloton, Stripe and Flipkart.

John Curtius, Partner at Tiger Global Management comments: “Flipdish is the European leader in the restaurant tech market, powering thousands of restaurants and QSRs across the region. The investment fits our strategy of investing in high quality companies that are benefiting from powerful secular growth trends and are led by excellent management teams.” Tiger Global will join existing Flipdish investors Global Founders Capital, Elkstone Partners, Enterprise Ireland and Growing Capital.

Operating in 15 countries including France, Germany, Ireland, Spain, UK and US, Flipdish provides its technology to thousands of independent restaurants as well as major brands like Subway, Wagamama, Cojean, Dunnes Stores and Eddie Rockets.

McCarthy concludes: “It’s not just the hospitality industry that needs to deliver food and eliminate queues in a post-COVID world. Cinemas, stadia and airports are just a few examples of places that will be deploying our technology to keep consumers well-fed and safe.”

In December, Flipdish announced the creation of 300 jobs over the next 12 months as part of its rapid expansion. The majority are technology roles such as software architects, data scientists, mobile engineers and product designers. Others include customer success, customer support, marketing and sales.